


Let The Walls Break Down

by theshipstorulethemallwrites



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Female Friendship, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Future Fic, Mild Sexual Content, OT5 Friendship, Secret Relationship, Sexual Tension, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 17:36:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8676565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshipstorulethemallwrites/pseuds/theshipstorulethemallwrites
Summary: Junior Year of High School tensions rise and secrets are reveled
A Lucaya Soulmate au





	1. We're Diving In, There's Nothing Left To Lose

It was only a few weeks after Maya met Riley that Riley’s soulmark appeared, and, in that moment, Maya knew she didn’t want a soulmate. Riley was Maya’s safe place, and she couldn’t imagine anyone mattering more to her than the tiny brunette beside her. She had to admit that Riley’s soulmark was beautiful – a purple galaxy painted across her back, stars shining. The mark reminded Riley that someone wanted her (or the best for her), but, to Maya, it was tangible evidence that Riley wouldn’t be hers forever, that Riley would find someone else.

After Riley got her soulmark, the Matthews sat the girls down on the red couch and explained that soulmarks were not identical. They had a similar theme, yes, but they were never the same. Riley’s soulmate would have stars scattered somewhere across their body but, other than that small clue, there was no infallible method to determine if that someone was Riley’s true match. The Matthews continued, showing the girls their soulmarks:the words “Do Good” etched into their skin. On Cory the words accompanied a skyline on his forearm and a book on his ankle while Topanga sported the scales of justice on the underside of her wrist and a star tucked behind her ear. The pair explained that soulmarks were individual and revealed aspects about both the self and the soulmate.

Maya always remembered Cory saying, “You girls are whole on your own. A soulmate adds to your life but they don’t complete it, you decide who you are and how you want to be. These marks, all they do is try to push you to the path you’d eventually find without them.”

Maya remembers meeting Farkle at the Halloween party, she’d seen him in a shop earlier that day and all she could remember was that he had a galaxy on his shin. She knew he was Riley’s match but she refused to say anything, wanting to keep them both in her life as people who loved her as much they loved each other for as long as she could.

No one had told her that your soulmark changed, no one had mentioned to the three of them that the personal touches came in later. It was a shock when Riley’s wrist suddenly had a rainbow and that Maya received her first mark, a blank canvas when the girls turned 10. Maya never told anyone, not even Riley, about the moon on the nape of her neck or the fire that raged across her lower hip. She didn’t want a soulmate so she just pretended they didn’t exist. Though she’d received all of her marks the summer before 8th grade, she ignored them. At least, she tried. Her sketchbook buried underneath a loose floorboard was full of half-done drawings of her marks.

Riley wore her marks as a badge of honor, an astronaut on her forearm, a rainbow on her wrist and her galaxy across her back. After all, her personal marks were not easy to hide and, unlike Maya or even Farkle, who hadn’t seen Riley’s marks and so didn’t know, Riley believed she would meet her soulmate. Little did she know that she had known her soulmate for a very long time.

When Lucas entered John Adams Middle School, Riley fell hard and fast. Despite their marks telling them they weren’t soulmates, Riley wanted Lucas as hers. He was so good and caring and she believed him to be her prince. Riley wanted a fairytale almost more than she wanted a soulmate. The fire that burned on Lucas’s hip was no match for Riley’s stars, and even though neither of them saw the other’s marks, they knew in their bones that it wouldn’t work. Farkle received his final mark, a purple smiley face, in the middle of 8th grade and he knew that, despite promising to love Riley and Maya the same, there was no way he’d be able to keep his promise. It didn’t help knowing that the girl who was meant to be his was lost in a fantasy dream with his best friend, so he threw himself into his friendships and his science.

The gang had two and half years of peace despite the shifting romances; the breakups between Smackle and Farkle and Riley and Lucas. Both couples parted amicably, though Lucas and Riley had tried to cling to a failing relationship that was only a little more than friendship. That wasn’t to say that the two of them didn’t fight during those last few months; in fact their fights were meaner than any other the fights the group had witnessed. The two threw each other’s optimism and selfishness in each other’s faces, tearing each other down in the only way two people that loved each other and were inherently similar could. They tore down the pedestals they’d placed each other on and after that fight it was over. They couldn’t date because they’d realized they wanted a false version of the other. As this was happening, Maya was falling harder for Lucas and Farkle fighting his feelings for Riley.

 

By mid Junior year the stress was piling up and Maya couldn’t handle it. She was taking honors art classes, AP US History to be in Mr. Matthews class and she had the ACT to study for despite wanting to go to Art School. She was convinced she didn’t need it but Shawn and Katy had insisted that she at least try to do well on it. After all, she was more intelligent than she gave herself credit for, at least that’s what her mom always said. Riley and Farkle had said they had a science project for Astronomy and she was in Topanga’s, her laptop and notebooks spread across the table, a strawberry smoothie beside her. Lucas arrived, sweaty and exhausted from football practice and as Maya glanced at him, she noticed that his marks looked especially bright today. Riley had confided in her that Lucas’s marks were almost as evident as her own and that while they tried to ignore it, the marks - especially Riley’s - got in the way every time they wanted to do more than kiss. It was a tangible reminder that they wouldn’t be together. Maya had observed enough to know that Riley and Lucas had the similarities and differences that made them great friends but a terrible couple.

“Just sit the fuck down, Huckleberry,” Maya yelled as the boy maneuvered himself over the chair.

Lucas plopped down, kicking his legs up on the table and grabbing Maya’s smoothie, taking a long sip. Maya glared at him but there was no real heat. They both knew that Lucas always swiping a bit of her smoothies was payback for her dumping smoothies on his head on that catastrophic date.

He sighed before grabbing the US history book next to him and flipping to read about the election of 1800. As he read, he started singing Hamilton under his breath and to his great joy Maya ended up joining him. Within thirty seconds they were both singing loudly. By the time the song ended, they were both leaning against each other, standing on the table arms up in the air. As Lucas helped Maya down, she felt a sliver of electricity run up her arm where he touched her.

She sighed, rubbing her arm as she asked him, “Are you going with anyone to the dance next week?”

Lucas smirked at her, saying, “Why, Maya, you could have just asked me. But to answer your question, no I’m not.”

Maya shook her head with laughter in her voice as she responded, “Ok cowboy, sure let’s go to the dance, at least we’ll be guaranteed to have fun instead of going with people we don’t know.”

Lucas shot her a blinding grin before returning to his reading.

It was the night of dance and like usual Maya and Riley were getting ready together. Maya’s dress was a beautiful strapless sliver that reminded her of a fairytale, so she had her black leather jacket over it to lessen the princess effect. Riley’s dress was a purple off shoulder cut that ended right above her knees, her marks on full display. The two girls were putting on lipstick as they heard Cory calling them to come to the living room.

As they stepped down to the kitchen they got their first look at the boys. Lucas, Maya observed, looked absolutely gorgeous in his grey and black button up that clung to him like a second skin. But as she strode over, she quickly banished that thought. Lucas was just her friend - she couldn’t have thoughts about ripping his clothing off. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice how Farkle and Riley were matching and were looking at each other like other people didn’t exist. Neither did she notice that when Lucas had caught sight of her, he’d stopped breathing.

As she approached him he grinned at her, offering his arm as he muttered, “You look beautiful.”

“Why thank you. You look mighty fine yourself.” Maya responded, using her Texas accent to make him laugh. Lucas let out a laugh which broke apart Riley and Farkle’s staring contest.

“Oh, peaches, are you two going together?” Riley asked, her hand still intertwined with Farkle’s.

Maya giggled, “Yes, you see Huckleberry here didn’t have a date so I took pity on him.”

Lucas glared at her as Zay and Smackle walked in, laughing and holding hands.

Smackle glanced around as she spoke, “Hey friends, shall we go to the dance as we’ll be late if we don’t leave immediately.”

Everybody grinned as they strode out the door to the school. They all started dancing together in a circle, stepping in the middle to show off their own slick dance moves. When the song slowed abruptly, the six paired off for a slow dance. It was then, Lucas’s body pressed against hers, that Maya couldn’t stop feeling the heat of the lust. She grabbed his hand, pulling him off the dance floor, marveling at how easily he followed her. As she opened the door to the storage closet, Lucas smirked down her, taking charge of the situation by pulling her flush against him and leaning down. Right before their lips touched, Maya held him back, taking stock that this was really happening. She was about to kiss the boy - man, the man - she’d wanted since before that night under the Texas moonlight.

His hand came up to cup her cheek and she shivered at the gentleness of his touch before pulling him in for a kiss. His hand curled around the back of her neck and she groaned, hands pulling at his hair as the kiss deepened. It could’ve been seconds or hours, for both of them time stopped even though their bodies continued to move in sync. Maya finally pulled away, breathing heavily as Lucas stared at her, wide eyed with swollen lips.

As they collected themselves, Maya spoke, “Could we be anymore of cliche? we’re making out in a storage closet for fuck’s sakes.”

Lucas let out a laugh, before murmuring back, “Well, this was clearly a one time thing so it’s not that cliche, but yeah we did just spend, around 30 minutes in here kissing.”

“Hang on,” Maya said, frowning, “It could not have been that long, I would not want to kiss you for a half an hour that’s absurd and I clearly messed with your head.” Lucas grinned, shaking his head as he showed her his watch. Maya sighed before moving to push open the door. Lucas reached out and spun her back toward him, pulling her in a deep kiss for several seconds.

He let her go, looking into her eyes as he muttered, “Now, we are done”.

“Ok, Cowboy, ok.” Maya called over her shoulder as she left to go back to the dance. Lucas rejoined them a few minutes later, hair mussed and grin bright as he twirled Riley around and around.

It was several days later and neither Lucas or Maya could permanently put away those minutes in the closet. At inopportune times, Maya found herself distracted by what it was like to kiss Lucas, to feel his body pressed against hers. Even har hurring him didn’t have the same fun because all she wanted was to kiss him, pull him by his stupid shirts and claim him as hers. His fingers had left bruises on her hips and she shifted whenever his hands brushed against hers. Lucas, for his part, couldn’t get over how she looked just after they pulled away out of his mind, the adoration and shock and openness of her face had struck him speechless. Every single time Maya’s hair hung in front of her face, Lucas had to shove his hands in his pockets to resist tucking the strands behind her ear and kissing her. Lucas shook his head, trying and failing to pay attention to the calculus in front of him when Maya strode up to him and grabbed his hand.

“Lucas, we’re going to the gym. You’re going to play some basketball and take your mind of the math test and I’m going to draw.” Maya ordered, dragging him towards the gym. Lucas nodded behind her, pulling his hand out of hers and kicking the door open.

He looked around and, seeing no else there, grabbed one of the balls and started shooting some jump shots. Maya nodded quickly, sitting down in the bleachers and pulling out her sketch book. Just like every time she’d tried to draw within the past few days, she started drawing Lucas, his lips, his hair messy from her hands, his shirt untucked and eyes bright. She shook her head and flipped to a new page, beginning to draw a night sky. As she began to shade in the moon, Lucas strode up to her. He paused, before taking the sketch book out of her hands and setting it down near her bookbag.

Maya glared at him as he grinned at her, leaning in and whispering, “I can think of a much better way to relieve stress, can’t you?”

Maya was shocked at his bold insinuation but before she could insult him and call him delusional, he kissed her. Hands grasped her curls as his lips crashed to her. When she didn’t kiss back, he started pulling away but her hand reached up to curl around his neck and pull him back to her. They stood there kissing, in the middle of the bleachers like some teenage movie climactic scene, for several movements before Lucas maneuvered Maya against the wall. He nipped at her bottom lip and she laughed before letting a groan as his tongue entered her mouth. As he explored her mouth, Maya’s hands pulled at his hair and he let out a growl.

Maya pulled and smirked at him, “You like that, don’t you, Cowboy?” she drawled out. Lucas nodded, looking a little drunk on her before he pulled her back in, hands bracketing her head against the wall as she moaned. Suddenly, the bell rang and woke them both from their haze.

Lucas grinned ruefully, and spoke, breathing heavily, “So, this helped calm me down. Do you want to do this on the regular?”

Maya laughed, her voice echoing in the empty gym as she nodded, pulling him for one last kiss before pushing him out the door.

She called out to him, “Good luck on that calc test, Ranger Rick!”.

Lucas laughed, tipping an imaginary hat at her as he strutted down the hallway, whistling. Maya giggled as she closed the door before sliding down and hugging her knees.

“Oh god” she said, her voice echoing throughout the empty gym, “why am I doing this? Why did I agree to be friends with benefits with the guy I’ve been falling in love with since 8th grade? Maya, you are going to fuck this up.”

She shook her head as she picked herself up and walked over to her stuff, grabbing her sketchbook and ripping out the drawing of Lucas, balling it up and tossing it in the trash as she walked out of the gym.


	2. Run and Hide at the Call of My Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And everything goes to shit

Nearly two months later, this little arrangement was still going strong and it hadn’t progressed a lot in terms of seeing each other without clothes but considering the wandering hands on both of their parts, it was looking that way soon. Maya was standing in front of the mirror in Riley’s bedroom, absentmindedly tracing the bruises left by Lucas’s hands the afternoon before.

Riley yawned as she moved over to mirror and asking, “Tracing your soulmark right? Oh come on, let me see it, Maya. Please?”

At Riley’s question, Maya was struck silent by the fact that if Lucas ever even slightly lifted up her shirt, he’d see his mark on her and the soulmark.

She laughed, voice strained as she replied, “Nope. Riles, there’s no soulmark, you’re my soulmate and I don’t get another one.” Riley frowned but didn’t push as she hastily began getting dressed.

“Maya,” Riley whined, “Get dressed, I’m going down to eat but we have to leave in 30 minutes.” Maya nodded, waiting until Riley skipped out the door to pull off her shirt and really notice that, woah, Lucas had been leaving bruises right over her soulmark. The fire was nearly completed covered by his hands and she felt a little better as she put on a red v-neck and jeans and headed down to join the rest of the Matthews.

As she headed out to join the others at math class, a hand grabbed her and pulled her into the janitor's closet.

She was about to scream as she noticed it was Lucas and she couldn’t resist teasing him, “Now, this is familiar, I just don’t know why?”

Lucas glared at her, not bothering with a response when he could just kiss her and so he did just that. Her nails scratching at his back as he pulled her flush against him. He grinned as he pulled away and she just gaped at him before she shook her head and stepped forward, pushing him against the wall and grabbing his head and kissing him. Lucas was almost breathless from the violence of her kiss and the dance they engaged slowly got even hotter, her hands pushing up his shirt, his hands finding her thigh and rubbing circles with his thumb.

Like nearly every other time they’d gotten this far during the school day, the warning bell blared through their groans and they began tidying up. Maya let out a quiet laugh as she noticed they’d knocked down an entire cleaning rack during their make out session. She grimaced as the two began picking it up, shivering every time they so much as brushed by each other. Lucas walked out first and was opening his textbook when Maya walked in and sat beside Riley who glanced at her with curiosity.

Maya slouched as she pulled out her notebook, mouthing bay window to Riley before turning back to her doodles.

 

 

Later the day, Maya arrived at Lucas’s house, bounding up to his room and jumping on him. Lucas laughed, grinning down at her before burrowing his head in her hair and letting out a sigh. They stood like that, content and happy before Maya remembered why she’d come and returning to task of getting Lucas at least shirtless with single minded determination.

“Off, off, off” Maya muttered, shoving Lucas’s jacket over as she started pulling up his shirt. Lucas grasped at her hands, preventing her from removing his shirt anymore as he lowered her onto his bed.

“Maya, hey. Hey! I know I’m irresistible but you have got to slow down. It may not mean much but this” he said, gesturing between them, his shirt pulled up and her hair a mess from his hands, “this means something and I just, I want to to treat it with respect.” he finished, biting his lip as he looked down.

Maya grinned up at him, giving him a quick kiss before she whispered, “Luke, I know, ok. I know we don’t talk about it much but if we go further, I’ll see your soulmark. I know that means something to you, Huckleberry.”

She looked at him with such honesty that it took Lucas’s breath away before he could shake his head vigorously, how could Maya not understand that his soulmarks didn’t mean a damn thing, not when he had this blonde beauty in his bed.

“No, seeing your soulmark means nothing or oh, when you were talking about respect you meant us respecting each other?” Maya asked, her voice soft as she looked at him, blue eyes wide.

Lucas leaned to kiss her and slipped his hand in hers as he whispered, “I respect you and I know you at least want me so let’s get back to you taking my shirt off, hmm.”

Maya giggled as she pulled Lucas’s shirt over his head tossing it on the floor and flipped them so she was straddling him. Maya wanted to say something, make a joke, but the way Lucas was looking at her, with pure adoration, the words got caught in her throat so she kissed him instead. Slowly she moved her heads downwards, sucking on his pulse point, teeth nipping at his adam's apple as he groaned out her name. As her head dipped lower, she pressed kisses to his glorious abs, before suddenly stopping. Woah, that looked like the fire that was etched on her hip, but bigger. She kissed around for a few moments, studying the lines of the flames and the colors, the way the fire seemed to be licking at his body. The fire took up a lot more room than hers and they weren’t exactly matching. It was _nothing_.

“Maya” she heard Lucas mutter from above her, sounding suddenly very very far away and she shook her head, that fire was just a coincidence, as she pressed a kiss right above Lucas’s soulmark. She kissed her way back up his body, kissing him hard and dirty as she got to his mouth. She lost herself in him, kissing and grabbing at his hair, pulling at it to release that delicious growl.

“Maya,” Lucas groaned out, her name sounding dangerous falling from his lips like that and she kissed him again, pulling him closer to her. She shook her head, pressing a finger to his lips and dipping her head back down his chest, this time even lower as she nipped at his hip, right above his jeans.

“Are you going to get me naked? Because I haven’t seen you lose your top and I want to worship you” Lucas growled out, pulling her back up to him where he could see her. Maya shook her head, trying to remember why she’d been trying to go there.

Oh right, that fucking _soulmark_ that somehow seemed to match hers.

The world had already given her Riley, it surely wouldn’t let her have Lucas as well. Fate was just taunting her, and she knew exactly how cruel Fate could be. Maya bit her top lip, staring at Lucas, his eyes looking at her with such a willingness to understand, a desire to listen. The fires that marked their souls and their skin were burning with the urge to tell him the truth so she did the only thing she knew that was a foolproof way to distract both of them from the answer she refused to give, she kissed him and kissed him and she knew she could kiss her Lucas forever. Lucas played her like a fiddle, quick kisses paired with deep ones, hands tangled in her hair. He set her whole being aflame and she had to leave soon before his fire burned her for good. As Lucas’s hands crept down, pulling at her shirt as he mouthed at her neck, she pushed him away.

“Luke. Luke. Friar! I’ve got to go, I promised Shawn I’d meet him for a thing” Maya said, hands smoothing down her white blouse and fingers ran through her hair.

Lucas looked like a lost puppy which made her smile as she hopped off the bed. Lucas followed, kissing her as she was about to leave and grinning at her. As the door shut behind Maya, he leaned against the door breathing heavily and traced his soulmark.

He knew that was why Maya ran from him, he knew Shawn wasn’t even town and in that moment he knew what it was like to hate someone he’d never even met. His soulmate, he didn’t know, but Maya, Maya Hart was the blonde spitfire who’d captivated him the day they’d met. He knew who Maya was and he also knew that he was just convenient, this was a way to release tension for her. He was the one falling in love with this girl. He sighed, heading downstairs and going to play some basketball outside. He couldn’t clear his head with Maya and her reaction to his soulmark just served to confuse him. The girls talked about everything and he knew keeping the arrangement from Riley was just killing the blonde, but he also knew that Riley had told Maya about his marks so he was just confused.

 

 

Oddly enough, it wasn’t in an intimate situation that Lucas saw Maya’s marks the first time. It was a group pool party to blow off some steam as the AP tests started drawing closer and they all had to hunker down and study. Maya and Riley walked down to the pool, wearing cover ups over their matching tankinis, Riley’s in purple and Maya’s in red. The suit was not something Maya would normally wear but it was a last minute gathering and she’d already been at Riley’s. The rest of the group was already there, Zay and Lucas were rough housing and Farkle and Smackle were engaged in a passionate discussion about science.

As the girls removed their coverups, the suit slides up a little and Lucas caught sight of the top half of the fire on Maya’s hip. Wait, was that? He glanced at the mark again and yes, it was. It was a lot smaller than his was but wow, Maya was _his_ soulmate. Lucas frowned, knowing that Maya had seen his soulmark that afternoon nearly a month earlier and she didn’t tell him. How could she not tell him, he wanted to scream but then Zay took advantage of his distraction and dunked him under water.

Maya noticed that her tankini had rolled up and one of her soulmarks was visible. Oh this was not good, this was absolutely horrible. She only hoped that no one had seen it before she rolled the suit down and asked Riley to retie the top so it didn’t happen when she went in the water.

As he emerged from the water, Maya couldn’t help but stare, her pupils darkening as she traced the rivets of water dripping from his body. Both of them only had eyes for each other even as Zay tried to talk to Lucas. As Riley looked back and forth between her best friend and her ex, she couldn’t put a finger on what just happened but something had just shifted between the two of them. The four members of the group who weren’t blonde noticed the way Lucas seemed almost like a drowning man, desperately trying to pull Maya in his orbit but Maya stuck close to Riley or Zay, refusing to look at Lucas.

It was two hours into the pool party and Lucas finally managed to catch Maya alone. He looked at her mark before slowly bringing his eyes back to her face, though they lingered on her lips before he stepped forward, pressing Maya against the wall and kissing her. As she kissed back, his hands settled on her hip, digging his finger into the mark. When Maya pulled back to breath, her lips parted to tease him before she noticed just how dark his eyes were. She bit her lip, thoughts running through her brain at a mile minute, namely that he saw her soulmark. That was, that was just _FUCK_.

Lucas looked down at her, and his hand moved from her hip to her hair. He wasn’t going to say anything, he was just going suffer because god damn it Maya didn’t deserve any more pain. He was not about to cause the girl he loved, his soulmate, pain even if it meant he felt like screaming in agony as they looked at each other.

Suddenly they heard footsteps and they quickly sprung apart, shooting each other slightly guilty glances as Farkle walked in. He raised an eyebrow at them but shrugged as he sighed, muttering, “Really Lucas, we told you guys to get some food, surely you can do that without arguing.”

Lucas frowned, “Well, that one” he said, pointing at Maya, “really wanted animal cookies and was very disappointed when there were none here.”

Maya glared at him, “Someone, said that oreos were clearly a superior cookie and it’s not my fault I clearly have much better taste than you”

“I’ve seen you eat oreos at the movies, Hart. Hell, it was what you chose to eat over those junior mints you like so much” Lucas responded.

Maya let out a growl as she folded her arms across her chest, taking the patented Maya Hart argument stance, one that spelled doom for anyone trying to break up the argument. Farkle took one look at the two of them, mystified by how well they knew each other but also nervous on if he’d ever see Lucas again before he returned to everyone else.

“Well, Friar, it’s not my fault that they had really delicious looking oreos that one time we went to see that stupid horror movie. Where, I’ll remind you, neither of us actually ate the snacks or watched the movie because we were to busy making out” Maya growled at him, slamming the door on her way out.

Lucas sighed, following Maya out the door as he called after her, “Maya, I’m sorry. I know I was a bit of a jerk. I’m just stressed and then Farkle walked in”

“Apology accepted, Ranger Rick. Now, go put your shirt back on before I decided that I can’t resist you and we’re exposed.” Maya teased him, voice filled with laughter that didn’t reach her eyes. She really just didn’t want to see his soulmark anymore. All it did was remind her that this was built on a lie.

 

The next day, they were in Mr. Matthew’s class and he wrote on the board, “The Culture War of the 1990s.” Nearly, everyone in the class groaned and Maya just put her head on her desk. It was Lucas, not Riley or Zay or even Farkle, who noticed how pale she was.

He raised his hand, “Mr. Matthews, I think Maya is sick or at least she hasn’t eaten yet, can I go get her an apple?” Lucas asked.

Riley turned to look at her best friend and was shocked to see that she did in fact look hangry. She also wondered when Lucas had learned that Maya actually loved apples and they were the one fruit that perked her very quickly, as far as Riley knew, her family were the only ones that knew that particular tick of Maya’s.

A few hours later, Zay was concerned about Lucas, he was breathing heavier than usual and playing with his hands, Lucas looked close to breaking the pencil in his hand and Zay knew that meant his friend was very stressed about something but before he could figure out what it was Maya walked over, took the pencil and pulled out her copy of Macbeth. She sat down next to him, handed Lucas the book and leaned into to him as she spoke softly about the meaning and themes with the play.

The bell rang and Zay noticed that when Lucas walked into the classroom, he looked a lot calmer. Zay had never seen anyone, not even Lucas’s mom, that was able to calm him down so fast and without any yelling. The lack of teasing from Maya had been another surprise as had been the hug Lucas gave her after they’d all walked out from the test. Lucas didn’t like admit weakness, so the fact that he was basically thanking Maya for her help had Zay staring in shock.

 

It was at Topanga's, books spread everywhere that Smackle voiced the question on everyone’s mind, “Maya, Lucas, when did the two of you get so close?”

Both of the blondes look at each other, shocked at the question before they began speaking over each other, protesting the notion.

Riley laughed, wiping her eyes as she spoke, “The two of you are basically sitting so close that you’ve become one person. Oh, and Maya, I heard you praising Lucas when the two of you were trying in vain to convince us of something other than the truth.”

“Riles, you’re one to talk, you and Farkle are holding hands right now, under the table. What are you not telling the rest of us?” Maya demanded.

Riley blushed, looking over at Farkle with a grin as he nodded and then she spoke, “Farkle and I are soulmates, we found out a few months and kept it a secret. We wanted it to be ours and we wanted to see if you guys would notice which you didn’t really seem too.”

Farkle grinned even wider, kissing Riley’s forehead before he turned to the group and raised an eyebrow at the blondes.

Maya frowned but quickly covered it up with a smile but inside her heart felt like it had just been ripped out. Riley didn’t keep secrets from her, she couldn’t and this was so massive. Maya could feel Lucas tense and she slowly leaned away from him, shaking her head.

Lucas just looked at her, a questioning look in his blue eyes before sighing and saying, “Nothing’s going on between us, alright.”

“Bullshit!” Zay muttered, looking between his two best friends, the gulf had appeared between them growing wider with all the denials.

Maya glared at Zay, slowly grabbing all her books and her sketchbook as she walked out of Topanga's mere minutes after Smackle’s innocent inquiry.

Lucas just looked pissed, nodding at Farkle and Riley and saying, “Congrats.” before he walked out.

 

It was raining because of course it raining. It fit Maya’s mood of sorrow so well. Riley and Farkle, two people she loved had kept their relationship a secret from her. She understood very well what it was like to want moments with your soulmate that were, well, yours but god it stung. She heard footsteps and slightly heavy breathing behind her and somehow she knew Lucas had followed her.

“I don’t need you. I don’t want _you_. Just leave me alone” she shouted back but Lucas had caught up to her and spun her around so she was facing him.

“I don’t give a damn, I’m not leaving you alone. I saw your face when Riley and Farkle made their little announcement, you were crushed” Lucas muttered, wiping his wet hair out of his face. “

You don’t know me.” Maya whispered, hands flexing as she stepped back.

“Well, that’s just bullshit and you know it. I know when you’re stressed, you start crossing your ankles and looking everywhere but whatever is troubling you. I know that when you’re nervous, you play with your hair and wring your hands. I know you hate kettlecorn but you eat it when Riley’s buys it at the movies. I know you curl up on your side to sleep. I know you hate speaking in class because you’ve learned not to take up space, not because you’re not paying attention. I know that you read Shakespeare for fun. I know that we’re soulmates. I know that you love Shawn but sometimes you resent him for taking so long. I know that when you’re having trouble with an art piece, you pull on your lip. I know”

Maya looked near tears, interrupting him, “You know we’re soulmates!” she demanded.

Lucas stepped forward, "Yes, and I'm tired of just making out and not discussing the fact that we're soulmates. C'mon Maya, I can't ignore the way I feel about you." said Lucas, his voice low and husky.

Maya glared at him, "You are only saying that because people have been noticing that we might be a thing, not because you actually want me" she said, looking down at her shoes.

"Oh come on, Maya, you just won't accept that you actually deserve good things. You aren't broken shortstack, you're just lost" Lucas responded, lifting her chin so she had to look at him.

Maya pulled herself away and stormed away before Lucas could see her break. When she got home, she noticed she’d cried all the way there, the tears soaking her to the bone. Ignoring her mom and Shawn, she ran up to her her room, throwing her books on the floor as she grabbed her sketchbooks and began slowly flipping through the pages, tears dripping onto the sketch of Lucas’s lower half, defined abs with the fire licking them. By the time, Maya left the room, the only light was the street light across the street and the drawing was smudged and ruined. She spoke for the first time in a few hours, voice hoarse from crying, “Well, that’s fucking appropriate.”

“Maya,” Shawn called up, “Dinner!”

“I’ll be down in a minute” She replied, taking a few seconds to splash some water on face and wonder what would happen with Lucas tomorrow.

She walked downstairs, to find Riley waiting. Her mom wrapped her in a hug and Shawn squeezed her shoulder. Maya managed to shakily smile at Riley who started talking about their day, carefully avoiding Maya’s storm-out.

As they continued to eat, Maya spoke a few words, lighting up as Riley talked about how she had gotten together with Farkle and he’d just simply told her, “Riles, you’re my soulmate and I love you, I’ve been in love with you since before I understood what love was.”

“And then I kissed him and it was like everything in the world was suddenly right” Riley said, grinning more than Maya had ever seen her.

She sighed, as adorable as this was, it served to remind her how right Lucas had felt with her and that she’d pushed him away. Riley was lost in the memories and so didn’t notice that Maya’s smile didn’t meet her eyes.

After dinner, Riley and Maya went up to her room and cuddled, Maya curled up against Riley as the other girl texted Farkle. “Peaches, I love you and I’m so so happy for you and Farkle.” Maya whispered. Riley heard, pressing a kiss to Maya’s forehead and continued running her fingers through Maya’s hair.

Riley woke, hours later, to several texts from her boyfriend, including one that frightened her a little. Farkle had sent her a picture of Lucas’s bloody knuckles and the accompanying text was, “He won’t really talk to either Zay or I but he’s pissed and he is mostly mad at himself. He keeps muttering about fire and how **“If she’d just let me, I could prove that I was worthy of being hers.”** Honestly, babe, I’m freaking out.”

She quickly checked if Maya was sleeping before texting back, “Maya’s spent most of the day crying and folding in on herself. She’s absolutely trying to run from this and Lucas will not let that happen. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow but I’m worried.”

 

As Maya curled deeper in the covers, she noticed that Riley’s weight wasn’t there and there was sun streaming through the window.

“Ugh, no” she groaned, pulling her blanket over her head. Riley grimaced, pulling the covers off of Maya and forces her out of bed.

“Get up, Maya. Please.” Riley said, tossing her a red dress, “Just put that on and we can go.” Maya sighed, noticing this was the dress she’d bought on whim a few months ago. She’d planned on wearing it to tease Lucas, it showed off her boobs really nicely and she’d learned quickly that Luke had a thing for her cleavage, especially when he could only look and not touch. Those early days had taught them both that sneaking around was hot but she frowned remember how hard it had been recently, the tension coiled into anger instead of kissing.

“Maya?” Riley asked, voice soft with an unasked question about how ok Maya was with going to school.

“I’m fine, Riles, just let me put this on and we can go.” Maya responded, pulling on the dress and tying her hair up in a low bun that covered her neck.

 

It was two hours into school when things got messy. Lucas walked over Maya, a contrite expression on his face before he caught sight of what she was wearing. He stood there, eyes widening as they ran over her body before a scowl tightened his features.

“So, you’re just taunting me! You reject me and run and now you’re wearing something I know you bought for me.” Lucas growled out, looking down at Maya who looked like she was torn between wanting to kill him and kiss him.

“Just,” Maya let out a sigh, “leave me alone, Luke. Please?” she whispered, eyes darting anywhere but his face. Lucas huffed, shooting her a glare as he pushed past her. Zay squeezed Maya’s shoulder before he followed the blond into their next class, which was of course math and of course they had test.

All either Maya or Lucas could think about was that day months ago when they started hooking up and Maya couldn’t help but doodle flames all over her text instead of answers.

Zay glanced at Lucas, his face a mixture of frustration and anger and as they walked out of the class, Zay steered Lucas towards the gym. “

Now, I know you love her and you want to fight for her but dear god man, that attitude before Calc was not the way to go. So shoot some hoops and release some tension because we do not need the two of you getting in a massive fight in the middle of lunch. That’d be real ugly.” Zay finished, passing Lucas the basketball as he noticed his best friend’s sad smirk as Lucas looked at the bleachers before the two began playing HORSE.

As Zay dribbled and shot the ball, Lucas began to speak, “God dude, it’s so hard because I love her and I think I’ve loved her for years and apparently we are soulmates and she’s known about it for _months_. “ his voice cracked as he said the last word before he swallowed and continued, “so Maya has known that we’re soulmates for a while and meanwhile I’ve spent the past few months absolutely hating my soulmate because I knew they meant I could never be with Maya. It’s just so so fucked up and I want to hate her but I just, I just _can’t_.”

Zay frowned, “this is really messing with your head isn’t it?”

“Duh!” Lucas muttered, exasperated, “I just, I want to be with her for real. You have Is, you know what’s it like to want something you think you can’t have and then finding out this wonderful beautiful girl wants you back, it’s like the world is turning on a new axis.”

Zay whistled before he spoke, “wow, I never took you for a poet, Friar. Man, you know that Isadora and I are very very different from you and Maya. You two have this whole history and you had a love triangle with her best friend whom you dated for awhile.”

“And, that, that makes everything worse because I already broke her heart once. So, I mean, maybe it’s time for me to get my heart wrecked by her. It’s only fair.” Lucas said, pensive as he ran a hand through his hair. “

That’s not how relationships work though.” Zay responded, frowning.

Lucas frowned, slamming his fist into his thigh before saying, “This didn’t really help. Thank you for trying, man but I’m more pissed.” The two of them exit the gym and head off to lunch. As they sit down, Maya moves away from Lucas until she’s almost off the bench.

 

And that interaction, Maya avoiding and Lucas angry, summed up the dynamic between the two of them for the next several days until the rest of their friends got incredibly fed up and locked them two of them into Mr. Matthew’s classroom after school. On the blackboard, there were the words, “Just talk to each other” in neat sprawling script.

Maya sighed, sitting on a desk and kicking her feet up, raising an eyebrow at Lucas who leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

“Well,” Lucas muttered, rolling his eyes, “if you didn’t have to be such a coward we could have fun right now.” Maya pushed herself up and strode up to him,

“You know what Huckleberry, just because things matter doesn’t mean you have to be an asshole when you lose them!”

“So you admit that what we were doing matters” Lucas responded, smirking.

Maya laughed, “Yes, it matters but I’m not in love with you or anything. I just like how you make me feel.”

“Oh really,” Lucas whispered, taking a step closer to Maya, “I’m not the one who was almost crying after my best friend announced she’d found and was dating her soulmate. I’m not the one with a sketchbook filled with drawings. I’m not one who always goes for one last kiss before we go our separate ways.”

“I think you’re remember our relationship wrong, Friar. After all, you are the only one in this room who said they were in love.” Maya snapped back defensively, stepping back from him so she was nearly flush against the front row of desks.

“Yes, Maya Penelope Hart, I am in love with you and I know you’ve been hurt before, including by me but Maya, god, I promise I’d treat you right. I promise I’ll let you call me as many embarrassing nicknames as you want. Just please, tell the truth and stop running for a minute.” Lucas said, the conviction in his voice causing his voice to carry and almost echo throughout the nearly silent room.

“Stop running!” Maya demanded, throwing her arms up in the air, “Luke, asking me to stop running is the same as asking me to stop drawing. I can’t fucking alter my DNA for you. I can’t go back in time in change all the times I’ve been hurt. That’s impossible.

“Shortstack, I’m not asking you to stop running forever. I’m asking you to tell me if you want this. If you want _us_.” Lucas cried out, reaching out to touch her as Maya swiftly avoided him.

“That’s not asking Friar! You’re giving me an ultimatum and while yes I want this, I can’t do this right now” Maya yelled back, hands clenching into fists.

“You can’t or you won’t?” Lucas uttered lowly, stepping forward and pulling Maya flush against him as he said, “Make up your mind, do I matter or not?”

At that question, Maya let out a short growl before grabbing Lucas and kissing him hard. His hands immediately went to her waist, pulling her closer still as he kissed back. Her hands traced his jaw, tender and longing, before she pushed him away.

She pulled back a minute later and whispered, “Of course you matter, fuck, I can’t do this right now” and pushed open the back door and stormed out.

“Well, Friar, that went well” Lucas muttered sarcastically to the empty classroom, grabbing a notebook from inside his desk and throwing it at the wall before turning off the lights and leaving the room.

He ran down the hall and pushed open the doors to the city, but no Maya. She’d kissed him and then ran and he was tired of always feeling like she was just slipping through his grasp but he knew that that girl was worth everything. He just had to prove it.


	3. I Wanna Fall so in Love With You and No One Else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> she understood why people described romances using fire.

So instead of going home, he went to Riley’s. Lucas knew that Maya was at her home because Shawn and Katy were both there, for once, and she always loved being with her parents. 

“Riley, I need your help!” He said bursting into Riley’s room to find very real evidence that Farkle and Riley were dating. Riley squealed, immediately pulling the covers over her naked top half as Farkle reached down and threw a shoe at him. 

“Oh, I can come back. Ugh!” Lucas says, moving to leave before Farkle throws another shoe at him.

Riley grins, grabbing Farkle’s shirt and shrugging it on before getting out of bed and glaring him, hands on her hips. It’s a look that’s a little less effective because of her tousled hair but it still causes Lucas to stop moving towards the door. 

“I take it locking the two of you in my dad’s classroom didn’t work?” Riley asked.

Lucas just shook his head in response, his eyes pleading as he looked at Riley as he said helplessly, “She won’t believe that I love her. I need your help, please?”

Riley and Farkle glanced at each other, having a silent conversation with only their eyes and then Farkle gestures to the Bay Window and the three of them sit down.

“Ok, did you tell Maya you love her?” Farkle asked as Riley pulls out a notebook and starts writing.

“Yes, of course I did!” Lucas huffed out, looking like he wants to explode.

Then Riley asked softly, “Lucas, did you tell her why?” 

And this question, this question, is one Lucas had to think about before he sighed and regretfully replied, “No, not exactly anyway”

At his answer, Riley swatted at his shoulder but grinned brightly anyway. 

“Well, there you have it, Lucas. Look, Maya is still the scared girl who came to my bay window acting all tough but who was just looking for someone to love her. Life has hurt her, people who she loved have hurt her and that includes the three of us. The words, “I love you” hold very little meaning for her anymore. You have to show her that you do, you have to explain why” Riley explained, surprised when Lucas, instead of looking happy, just shoots a glare at her.

“You don’t think I know that!!! I know her better than I know myself. I know she’s still scared. I know I have to prove it. That’s the whole fucking reason I came over here, to ask you how I can prove it.” Lucas responded, nearly shouting as he slammed his fist into his jeans. 

Farkle looked between the two of them, sighing heavily before he said, “You have to remind her how long you’ve loved her, you have to tell her using both words and actions that you love her and most importantly you can’t mention soulmates.”

Lucas mulled over these words, comprehension drawing on his features before he nodded sharply and stands up.

“Where are you going?” Riley asked, confused as Lucas moved toward the door.

As Lucas opened it, he turned back and smirked, “I’m going to get the girl.”

Farkle and Riley glanced at each other, gave him the thumbs up as the door swung shut, starting to make out again.

Lucas walked out and head back to his house and starts making plans.    
  
  


Nearly two hours later, everything is ready. His parents are out on a business trip so he has the house to himself and he’s just texted Maya asking her to come over. She hadn’t replied and he was getting worried until he heard a key opening his front door and Maya walked in, wearing the same red dress, her hair down and black booties. 

“You look, wow,” Lucas tried to speak, nearly speechless in the face of her beauty as he managed to breath out, “gorgeous.”

“Thank you, I like that tux on you” Maya responded, grinning as she ducked her head.

“Well, only the best for the girl I’m in love with” Lucas replied, smirking as he took her hand and let her outside to the firepit. 

“A fire pit, really?” Maya laughed, inwardly touched at this gesture. 

“Yes, a fire pit, it’s a reminder of where you first said you wanted me and a reminder of when I saw you as someone I could have a future with.” Lucas replied and grinned as Maya smiled brilliantly at him. 

“We also have strawberry smoothies and breakfast for dinner.” Lucas added, handing her a glass.

“It would be really really shitty of me if I poured this over your head right now.” Maya stated, laughing as she continued, “thank you, seriously Luke, this,” gestures to the table and fire and the tux, “this is almost too much.”

Lucas laughed, “Yes, it that would be shitty of you,” he ducked his head, running a hand through his hair, “and no, Maya, you deserve the world, so it’s not even close to being enough.”

At that Maya grinned, scooting closer to Lucas as he grabbed the blanket and wrapped around her. 

“Better?” he asked quietly. She

Maya nodded and started to eat. As she took a sip of the smoothie she let out a groan of delight. Lucas looked at her for a minute, pupils darkening, before he began to dig in. The two of them ate with gusto and when they were finished, Maya excused herself to go to the bathroom. While Lucas was fiddling with the music outside, Maya was taking several deep breaths and trying not to become overwhelmed with how much thought Lucas had put into this. 

As she exited, she muttered to herself, “Wow, he really loves me, not because we’re soulmates but because I’m me.” 

She strode outside and let out a loud chuckle as she recognized the song that was playing. It was the song she’d told Riley always reminded her of the man in front of her, rose in his teeth and holding out his hand. She grinned, taking it and placing her hands around his neck. His hands found her waist but not before he slipped the rose in her hair, blushing as he tucked a curl behind her ear. They stood there, swaying to a song that was so quintessentially them that Lucas couldn’t help but sing along. 

As Maya stared up him, his face gleaming in the firelight and his eyes looking at her like she was the most precious thing he’d ever seen, she couldn’t help but lean in closer. His hands went up to cup her face and it was like she was 14 again, in Texas under the stars with a boy she wanted more than she’d ever wanted anything. This time, he paused and then kissed her and she understood why people described romances using fire. This kiss was slow, like he was pouring every ounce of his love into the kiss and Maya did the same, hands urging him closer. 

“Aww man, you just had to kiss me. I had a speech, Hart. I even had notecards and everything!” Lucas gripped after they broke apart. Maya laughed, reaching into his pants pocket and pulled out the cards. 

She read them silently to herself, looking near tears as she said quietly, “Hey, you’re my soulmate and I love you.”

Lucas laughed, “Love you too, my spitfire.”

Maya leaned against him, nipping at his neck before she responded, “I like that, soulmate.”

Lucas grinned, whispering, “soulmate” against her lips before leaning down to kiss her again. 

This time it wasn’t slow, it was all passion and hands and tongues and Maya felt as though she was burning with desire. She pulled him into the house and led him upstairs, taking longer than usual because they couldn’t stop kissing.

 

They woke up to about a hundred missed calls and texts and they both started getting dressed, Maya pulling on a pair of jeans she’d left one time before all of this had started and a black shirt of Lucas’s.

Lucas still lounging in bed, smirked at her as she threw a shirt at him, “God, you look so hot in my shirt.” he muttered.

Maya grinned, “I can hear you!” she called back as Lucas got out of bed and shrugged on the shirt she’d thrown at him and kissing the top of her head. 

“Everyone’s going to know you’re mine, in that shirt, but you knew that already.” Lucas said, grinning as he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to force to be a little less messy.

Maya just raised an eyebrow and gestured towards his neck, “Well, in that shirt, everyone’s going to know you’re mine, so it’s only fair” she teased, grabbing her jacket from the chair and opening the door.

 

 

When they walked into school, holding hands, nearly everyone started cheering. Riley quickly wrapped Maya into a hug as Zay slapped Lucas’s back, the gang grinning widely.

“Finally!” Smackle declared as the group started moving to class, laughing loudly. 

As they were about to enter math class, Lucas kissed Maya. When they pulled apart, grinning brightly, Lucas whispered, “Meet me in the storage closet after class.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Walls by All Time Low
> 
> Find me on tumblr @the-ships-to-rule-them-all
> 
> This is my first fic in the Girl Meets World fandom so please let me know what you think!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are amazing


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